Buddhism is concerned with becoming aware of and realizing with increasing depth the nature of mind, which is in all beings and which transcends anything that we could grasp and own. It is the very nature of experience itself and in the end, experience is all we have. (Our particular personality and way of being is a rather confused expression of that basic nature of mind that is common to us all.)

Openness, Clarity and Sensitivity

The nature of mind is experienced in terms of three inseparable qualities: [1] openness (which could also be called spaciousness), [2] clarity (which could also be called awareness) and [3] sensitivity (which could also be called responsiveness or well-being).

Having Confidence in What We Basically Are

We in the West seem to lack a genuine and fundamental confidence in ourselves. If we have confidence at all it tends to be somewhat crude and egocentric. We do not seem to have confidence in what we basically are as human beings. 

In other cultures, particularly in the East, this seems to be much less of a problem. It is very common for us to think of ourselves as hopeless bundles of complexes and bad habits – essentially worthless and just a problem to ourselves and others. Emotionally we feel empty and hollow — but not in the deep sense in which Buddhism talks about emptiness, which is a feeling of openness and spaciousness. Rather we feel closed and cut off – diminished and lonely.

[1] Openness Is Spaciousness 

Spaciousness is something we could feel complete confidence in as the basis of our being, experience or awareness. It is the boundless quality of the nature of mind. It carries with it a positive sense of well-being and health which is the opposite of feeling claustrophobia and strain. For any sentient being, there is always some sense of space even if only in the sense that it seems blocked. Even a feeling of claustrophobia reflects an awareness of space.

[2] Clarity Is Awareness 

Awareness itself is intimately connected to our idea of time. The whole notion of time implies the presence of awareness. Sometimes time seems to go faster or slower, but for all sentient creatures there is always some sense of time passing.

There is a quality to awareness which is very attractive in itself. It is not that we get anything out of it particularly. It just feels good and positive in itself. It conveys a sense of realness and aliveness that is enough somehow.

[3] Sensitivity Is Well-Being

The sense of well-being that is always associated with awareness tells us that it is right to be more aware. Increased awareness brings an increased sense of openness and sensitivity and somehow we are attracted to these qualities for their own sake. They feel good. As we build up an [1] awareness of spaciousness, we increasingly notice our [2] clarity and awareness and this triggers our [3] natural responsiveness.

Yet, strangely, we tend to shut off awareness very early. Why, if we value awareness so much, do we shut it off so firmly and so quickly? Is it that we are frightened that we are going to see something about ourselves, others and the world that is unpalatable in some way? 

It is as if we were afraid that if we looked too closely, everything would somehow fall apart or become unmanageable. Actually there is no need to feel that, since the nature of our being is fundamentally good and carries within itself a sense of well-being. It is not something shocking or terrible. We can afford to be open and we can develop confidence, because this well-being is fundamental to our nature, transcending the usual idea we have of ourselves. We tend to think of ourselves as separate people with particular notions, feelings, perceptions and so on, but the nature of mind is exactly the same in all beings.

All sentient beings have sensitivity in the sense of having the general ability to feel sense impressions and to respond, no matter what the impressions are or how they respond to them. So we all share in this fundamental nature.

This sensitivity is what communicates a sense of well-being. We need to connect to this in order to feel good in ourselves. Without this it is impossible to feel good towards others. That is why it is standard Buddhist practice to develop friendliness towards ourselves before even trying to develop it towards others.

Even if we feel that there is not much in our lives to feel good about, there is always our basic sensitivity. As long as we are experiencing or are aware of anything, sensitivity is always there and that is somehow good in itself. So we have to connect to the sense that it is good to be alive, to be sitting meditating, to be aware, to be experiencing anything at all. We have to become aware of that quality of goodness within ourselves in order to appreciate it in the world around us.

Buddha Nature: the Indestructible Heart Essence 

To be [3] sensitive there has to be some degree of [1] openness and [2] awareness, so these three qualities are the basis of what it is to be a sentient being, whether animal or human or anything else. There is therefore a basic kinship between all beings that goes very deep — right to the very essence of what it is to be alive and sentient.

Yet, we vary in the extent to which we experience the [1] spaciousness, [2] clarity and [3] sensitivity of our nature. When fully experienced, without distortion, blockage or veil, it is the Buddha’s boundless enlightened awareness and responsiveness. In other words, it is boundless wisdom and compassion. So the very essence of what it is to be sentient and alive is also the very essence of the Buddha’s enlightenment. It is there in the heart of our being already and it never changes. It is our indestructible heart essence.

The word ‘Buddha’ means the ‘Awakened One’. What a Buddha awakens to is the reality, the living presence, of the vastness and vitality of our natural [1] openness, [2] clarity and [3] sensitivity. These qualities are the nature of both the Awakened One, the Buddha, and of beings before they awaken.

Not Conceptual Creations

The three qualities of [1] openness, [2] clarity and [3] sensitivity are behind all we experience. They are what we are — our personality, feelings, emotions, thoughts, even our bodies comes from them. We do not create them — they create us. They are not something that we can manipulate or play with. They are just there, naturally, as our heritage as sentient beings – absolutely intrinsic and basic to what it is to be alive and conscious.

Body and Mind

Actually, both mind and body are of the nature of [1] space, [2] awareness and [3] sensitivity and both are intrinsic to what it is to be a human being. We have some control over the body and we feel that we own it. This seems to imply that it is not completely intrinsic to our nature, whereas the mind, because it is the underlying basis for all our experience, certainly seems intrinsic. So we tend to identify with our mind and treat our body rather like an appendage, or even as a slave. 

Yet neither our body nor our mind are really under our control. We know very well, for example, that many of our bodily functions are not under conscious control at all. It is important to realize that both body and mind are intrinsic to our being and are inextricably related. They have a natural way of being that is independent of our ego-control. Although we think we control them or that we ought to be able to, in fact it is our constant ego-intervention that distorts the functioning of both.

Not a Personal Acquisition of Attainment

These qualities of [1] openness, [2] clarity and [3] sensitivity sound good, and so we immediately feel we want them or want more of them. We might ask how we can obtain or increase them. 

It is important to stress that the three qualities cannot be our possession. We can never say, ‘It is my [1] clarity, my [2] space or my [3] sensitivity’. No-one owns them. They are nobody’s personal adornments. Nobody can use them to make themselves feel special.

Yet even if your personality became completely disorganized and you, in some sense, ceased to be you, there would still be those three qualities. There is nothing you can do about it. You will always have them.

Intrinsic to the Nature of the Universe

In a very profound way, they are intrinsic to the universe itself. There is much reasoned argument in the Buddhist tradition explaining this point but it would take too long to examine here. It would mean introducing such pertinent questions as, ‘What do we mean by “the universe” anyway?’

No Increase or Decrease

Although we can recognise these three qualities in ourselves to some extent and we can envisage how they could be vast, open and vital, in fact, as far as our present experience is concerned, that is not how they feel. 

Buddhist practice is about bringing out those qualities as fully as possible. We cannot really talk about enhancing them because they are in fact fully present all the time. We cannot really say we are increasing an underlying awareness. Awareness is awareness, it cannot be increased or decreased.

Not a Content of Mind

Since these qualities are not under our control, they are untainted by our ego control and manipulation, they are just there. They are what we essentially are in a more fundamental sense than the ego is.

Worrying about things and feeling guilt, unhappiness, and so on, come from focusing on the content of thoughts. For example, when I feel depressed or rejected, I focus on thoughts about the past and future, right and wrong, loss and gain and so on. 

Instead I could focus on the [1] spacious, [2] clear and [3] sensitive nature of my being that gives rise to such thoughts and feelings. The three qualities have nothing to do with content, they are the nature of the awareness process itself. So it is not a matter of being aware of a particular thing, but of having that function of awareness.

Again, it is not that there is anything in particular to feel spacious about. It is simply that spaciousness is there because that aware, awake quality of our being involves space.

When we feel a bit claustrophobic, trapped, constrained, hemmed in, pushed into a corner, that something is blocking our view, or dulling our mind, we do not feel very aware. Nevertheless, the very fact that we are alive means that there is some awareness there. Without a certain amount of [1] space, [2] awareness and [3] sensitivity, we would be dead. These qualities are the essence of what it is to be alive. They have nothing to do with whether we feel good or bad, happy or sad.

Not Moods

The three qualities are not moods. They do not come and go. We should not think that we have to hype ourselves up to feel joyful all the time, or be clear and aware all the time.· The three qualities are fundamental to every experience. Whatever we are experiencing, they are there.

Confidence

We began by saying that we lack confidence in what we basically are. The reason we can talk of confidence is that there is something to discover or realize called the ‘nature of mind’ or the ‘indestructible heart essence’ that we can rely on. 

Because we are alive, we have [1] space, [3] sensitivity and [2] awareness, so we can go deeper and discover what those qualities actually are. It is wonderful to think that it is enough that we are alive. The whole question of whether we are a good or a bad person is totally irrelevant.

The feeling of a desperate need to prove ourselves has somehow become an obsession in our culture. We have been brought up to feel we lack inherent worth and so have to do something to justify our existence. Whatever we do we always feel that we have never quite done enough to prove our worth, however successful we are.

All this is a sign of lack of confidence in our own basic nature. We identify with our confused habits of mind rather than with what we essentially are. It is true that the three qualities are covered over to some extent by confused habits of mind, but as we gradually start to recognize those fundamental qualities for what they are, we can let go of those habits. We can get rid of habits but we cannot get rid of what we fundamentally are. 

Because habits of mind are very difficult to get rid of, we should strike at the source of them, which is our lack of confidence in what we are: [1] boundless space, [2] awareness and [3] well-being.

Sky and Clouds

The three qualities are with us all the time, every moment. Like the sky, they do not disappear the moment we stop thinking of them. We do not have to be aware of them consciously for them to be there. They·do not disappear, even when we are asleep or unconscious.

The problem is that the nature of those qualities is obscured. But the obscuring process is not always present, it is not intrinsic to our being. The habitual thought patterns that hide the mind’s basic nature can be compared to clouds covering the sky. Both positive and negative thoughts and feelings are like clouds. 

The basic nature of mind is beyond all judgements of good and bad, happy and sad. All such judgements are themselves like clouds. They come and go without affecting the sky which is never spoiled or tainted by them.

The Three Qualities Feed Back into Each Other

In order to build up that sense of [1] space and to appreciate it, we need to have already a certain amount of [2] awareness and [3] sensitivity. So there is a kind of feed-back process with [1] spaciousness, [2] awareness and [3] sensitivity or well-being, all feeding back into each other. Confidence is an expression of our sense of [3] well-being and enables us to expand and let go further into [1] spaciousness, which in turn affects our [2] awareness, sense of well-being and confidence.

Samaya 

Samaya means an inescapable bond. The sense of well-being arises from having [1] space, [2] awareness and [3] sensitivity inherent to our nature. This is our inescapable bond with the nature of reality. 

Respecting or protecting samaya means accepting that reality fully as something we are bound to and can never escape from — as when we give our word to someone. We are bound by that. It is our samaya.

To denigrate ourselves or others by regarding either as being less than what they inherently are is to involve ourselves in endless struggle, conflict and confusion. This is because we are fighting against the inescapable nature of reality. Instead of accepting and respecting this fundamental samaya, we are fighting it.

The fact is that every human being is bound to those inseparable qualities. Whatever anybody does, nobody can get rid of them. Even the most evil person in the world still has some [2] awareness and that awareness must be functioning in [1] space, even if it is just the ordinary physical space in which a person moves around. Being alive means feeling things physically and emotionally, so there is always that natural [3] sensitivity, if nothing else. It is inescapable.

Concepts Can Be Used to Remove Concepts

At first, when we practise, we create a slightly conceptualized version of these three qualities. Although any conceptual effort distorts them, we have to start somewhere and a conceptual appreciation and confidence in them is a start. For most of us it is already a big step to move from our usual low opinion of ourselves to having even the beginnings of the sort of confidence we are talking about here.

As we practise, the mind becomes more refined and we see through the coarseness of the way we thought before. We start to appreciate the difference between conceptual ideas about the three qualities and more direct experience of them. It might take a few years before we notice this, but the time is well spent, because at the end of those years we have something invaluable in terms of vaster and clearer vision.

Source: Based on the following reference. Rigdzin Shikpo. Openness Clarity Sensitivity. Compiled from talks by Rigdzin Shikpo. Edited by Shenpen Hookham. Oxford: The Longchen Foundation, 1992, 2000. 

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